The Suspect: Cocoa Desktop Writeboard

If you're anything like me (or the rest of the world for that matter), you use post-it notes to jot down just about everything. Until recently though, I fell victim to over post-it noting (see post-it note picture) and worse than looking at them clutter up my desk one-by-one, I felt awful when I would throw one after another away only moments after I jotted down (or doodled) on it.

Then, in a recent trip to The (beautiful) Container Store, I discovered the Cocoa Desktop Writeboard. I was instantly drawn to its clean, sleek design. The idea was something I hadn't considered or seen before- a whiteboard (basically) that was angled for jotting, and doodling, down those quick notes. The concept was easy enough, but Cocoa took it a step further with the clear lifting face and interchangable templates. For around $20, you get the board, a black dry-erase marker with eraser head, and a CD of printable templates.

Since that blissful day, I've been hooked on the Cocoa Writeboard. Today, only two post-it notes on average call my computer monitor home and I've cut down on post-it note refills by large quantities. I love the way it looks on my desk and it is at just the right slant that it is comfortable for resting your arm while writing on it. Even the black dry-erase marker seems ergonomically designed for a better and more comfortable writing experience.

The biggest squawk though is that it squeaks when you write. At first I thought it was the marker I was using, so I tried two different brands of garunteed "non-squeak" dry-erase markers and all of them squeaked. I'm convinced it is the board, but regardless its usefulness has outweighed the squeak factor and this school tool has earned a permanant spot on my desk.